2011-2012 Juneau School District: Technology Committee Meeting Minutes

Tech Committee Meeting: March 3rd, Proposed Agenda


  • A short re-cap of the Feb. 11 meeting

  • A recap of the Juneau team at the Alaska Society of Technology in Education (ASTE) conference, Sat-Wed, of this week in Anchorage

  • An update on tech funding

  • Review of 2 or 3 internet safety curricula

  • Sub-group discussion time (student learning/adult learning)

  • Setting of next steps and next gathering time

Minutes:

Laury Scandling, Chris Murray, Richard Steele, Carolyn Dukes, Cathy Brown, Patty Newman, Tom Milliron, Dave Ringle, Janna Lelchuk, Julie Leary, Renee Drummond, Britta Steinberger, John Wahl, Carin Smolin

Agenda items:
  • Wiki space
  • ASTE debrief
  • 5 pt discussion
  • online vendor vetting
  • social media behavior training mods
  • working groups-configuration, tasks

wiki-means quick; uses web 2.0, read/write tool, does not require much special permissions to use it and can have discussions at same time

https://jsdtechnologycommittee.wikispaces.com
s in “https” means secure…
John reviewed use of wiki for our group

ASTE review/share:
Tom: must address infrastructure before hardware; look at blended education-start small, look at mastery and not seat time and growth; John won Ididacontest award

Janna: professional development needed by teachers; impressed with google presentations-Jim Sill (bring him to Juneau!).

Dave: google guy was excellent

Julie: google presentation excellent; working on using google website; Info graphics presentation-another way to present information, higher level thinking-picture shows the learning, site called the “Daring Librarian” uses this site; use of QR codes; QR codes for our website, phone lists.

Carin: Edumodo-excellent platform for internal workgroups, blended learning-distance delivery in our schools; Google apps training excellent; AKLearnnet-share AKLearn with secondary principals team; use of QR codes

John: focus on all aspects of leadership in technology leadership; we need to highlight the good work happening in our district and sponsor booth/presentations at ASTE and bring student-teacher teams to showcase video production, GIS, digital arts, path to excellence camps - dual credit and place based learning; 100 uses for garage band in the classroom; free web 2.0 tools to transform the classroom-nominate Sarah Graver for student of the year; Alan Degener’s; started intermediate intervention class;

Laury: leadership training-its not about the technology, its about the learning, need to get on board and help increase student achievement; as a culture-education is behind compared to how kids live outside the day of school; great ideas and free resources from google workshop day

Chris: mostly at infrastructure sessions and working on it for our district now; create Juneau Schools official domain for Edumodo

Infrastructure and Professional Development: critical to our success; ongoing, bite-sized, regular, intuitive, collaborative

It’s time to stop talking about it, it’s time to start doing it!

Leslie Scranton: shared Internet Safety Curriculum
  • more elementary students and younger are using cell phones
  • counseling standards C: safety and use of technology and apply problem solving and decision making skills
  • FREE: netsmartz.org and uses presentations, great links to other sites
  • promote 4 main rules of internet safety and internet safety pledge with parent review and cyberbullying lessons and resources
  • “netiquette”
  • plan to conduct pre-assessment of 5th graders to see what changes after the lessons (she created)

Another Internet Safety curriculum we can use through this year: iSAFE (used at FD)
  • License is renewed for next calendar year through Feb 1 ($5000/year)
  • Could be free for us next year if state purchases it –Julie Leary will look into it
  • E-rate funds will be taken back if we don’t implement internet safety curriculum
  • District gets about $90,000 in e-rate funding
  • Any teacher can request login, request through Laury/Susan Arnold
  • Consider piloting and evaluating these curriculum resources
  • FD has used iSAFE: challenge is capturing the entire student body in meaningful way-do it in the PE lifestyles class
  • Other middle school does not offer health so where does it get implemented? Parts are covered in EVB curriculum through exploratory programs, one week each semester with different levels for each grade
  • high schools may cover it in health classes and world of work courses? Advisory is good venue for this content delivery too
  • AWARE has ed outreach person who can talk to classes about related issues
  • Each school site needs to have plan: teacher/admin and exploring iSAFE and netsmartz to figure out what to implement next school year as mandated by law – talk about at admin meeting to inform all admins and then plan and team in each bldg


Vendor Vetting:
  • Let Laury know if want to be on subcommittee to review vendor options and curriculum etc. once or month or as needed

Tech Refresh cycle
  • Fund request to legislature cut - $355,000 request cut to $82,000 for FD only
  • Advocacy needed
  • Need to go to board to bring concerns and let us speak as one voice to legislature
  • $300,000 refresh cycle in our general operating budget+$355,000 was leg request that has been cut
  • district decisions: look at critical needs first including infrastructure, and improving technology that is over 5 years old

Review notes from ASTE and 5 point plan
  1. 1. Advocate and secure funding
  2. 2. Build and maintain robust infrastructure
  3. 3. Deliver ongoing, individualized PD
  4. 4. Achieve efficiencies, financial savings through paperless goals
  5. 5. Open the tech environment

Richard:
  • need district leadership and filter; hard to do by committee

John:
  • need our district “Northstars” (not to troubleshoot but to share skills and strategies and successes in using technology)

Student learning group needs student participation

We need to work within the 8 components framework:
  1. 1. Shared vision and leadership – Richard, John, Tom
  2. 2. Professional development – Julie, Janna, Renee
  3. 3. Infrastructure-Tech planning – Laury, Chris, Carin, John
  4. 4. Culture
  5. 5. Community Partnerships
  6. 6. Funding – Laury
  7. 7. Curriculum and implementation –Brita, Kathy, Dave, Carrolyn
  8. 8.

Small group discussions based on framework: Post comments to group wiki


Group: Shared leadership and vision/tech planning/culture:
Tom, Richard, John, Chris, Laury, Carin
  • Divide the duties and assign responsibilities
  • Understand our sphere of control and influence
  • How to adapt-skills
  • Is there one thing as near time goal for this school year?
  • Will we have tech innovation grants? Yes - $2,000 per project how technology as a tool to improve learning; could we up that to more than $2000/person—dual applications--What if partner did joint project that goes to higher level? $40,000 funding
    • o Increase amount for larger scale projects and based on proven model
    • o Standards
    • o Data collection
    • Change of culture with PLC’s to help change practice
    • Start small and let others see what is working
    • Identify digital pioneers in each building (NorthStars)
    • FD: desire to move away from seat time to project implementing standards based using technology and showcase
    • Admins need to back up those needing to do it and allow for mistakes and learning process
    • Richard: we need to have to use technology-teachers must use Powerschools; not optional in using x technology
    • Plan it right…we need a system, need instructional technology supervisor connected with curriculum development; shift instructional coaches to district wide and shift duties including technology

  • Untapped resources: Computer technicians (9 people) – multi-skilled staff in our system -instruct staff in technology in their job descriptions and media specialists/librarians (10 people) – 1/3 time spent instruction
    • o Every school gives an hour each month with training by computer tech or someone from IT
    • Shared leadership from all principals: every school may need the same PD at times;
      • o what is our standards/requirements for technology use that all staff need to have or know how to use---google apps etc;
      • o what is our objective – pilot projects
        • § paperless-efficiencies
        • § best student learning possible
        • § great professional development
  • o use innovative tech grant to help move this: what is each site doing on a quarterly basis: best paperless project, best innovative learning and end of year teacher showcase
  • Apple model of training user and Google model of training




Tech Committee Meeting, 2/12/12

In attendance: Laury Scandling, Roxy Mourant, John Wahl, Carolyn Dukes, Cathy Brown, Lynette McNutt, Tom Milliron, Kathryn Milliron, Janna Lelchuk, Chris Murray, Renee Drummond, Julie Leary, Carin Smolin, Britta Steinberger

Goals: couple of short term goals this and next year; plan is in place

Apple, new ipad program: ibook author, can make own books

State library developing new cyber safety-CIPA (social networking and cyber bullying) program for students

Roxy, State Tech Director:
John Monihan working on Doctorate program at UAF

School Boards Association 1-1 laptop…John Wahl helped make this happen (along with Bob Whicker)

We have 2 days tech asst from Apple to Juneau SD: May 2-3-4

TED.com web site-virtual choir 2.0—amazing connection of singers around world

AK Learning Network: statewide coalition now for distance delivery courses
  • Online courses, PD, resources and pilot courses
  • Creating a digital rich classroom
  • Train 10 teachers after ASTE in building online classes, go back and prepare materials, and then in July create the classes
  • Computer Literacy classes CIOS 105 with technical assessments (12th grade NETS) created by Sam McPhetres in Haines (asynchronous)…school signs up the student and monitors (does not require certified teacher)-15 kids around state taking it
  • Blended learning GIS camp this summer: Apps due April 2; video capture machine Roxy has… work with teams of 10 high school teachers and 2 students from their schools and implement ESRI software-maybe a teacher from JDHS and YK or CARES to attend? Kathleen Galau already uses this and teaches GIS. Britta? Richard? And determine project to do in community; can other science teachers in K-8 join this class? Everything can be captured in Digital Sandbox and accessed by teachers statewide
  • Janna Lelchuk—possibility for teaching Russian on the AKLN system
  • Online standards for courses and teachers
  • Working with University center for distance ed (UAF) - - offers remediation classes online and looking to put on AKLN
  • CARES could be the monitor for this for students
  • ? how can elementary teachers be engaged in this? Digital Sandbox is best resource to access info
  • Seaweek could be mechanism for this and post field work experiences
  • Video conferencing
  • Platform for CIOS class is SchoolTown—uses less bandwith than Moodle and Illuminate
  • FUN in learning: Funtheory.com
    • by Volkswagon: Stairs video turned into piano to get people to use stairs and not escalator, garbage can noise to get people to not litter
    • Screen flow to capture video on computer if you cannot do with limited internet access
    • Learning.com: all about national ed tech standards; cyber bullying and digital citizenship resources; give to teachers to create lessons; districts can choose to create what they want; 21stcentury skill lessons;
      • Edmodo: building lessons for students and teachers-items placed in Sandbox, K-12; how to create things in sandbox; put in docs that can be changed/edited by other teachers—
        • main goal—contribute to the Digital Sandbox—upload
        • email all staff to contribute and share on Digital Sandbox---put icon, title of description, content area and grade level; firstname.lastname=user name; Alaska is password
        • Artifacts winners from last year in Digital Sandbox
        • Developed rubrics in the 14 content areas: LA, World Lang, etc. to evaluate content
        • Janna Lelchuk-digital storytelling-Creative Writing classes
        • Title IID going away but connected to Ed Tech Plan…carryover funds shared with district
        • Carpe diem schools.com video (great schools)
        • Touch icon on ipad lets you put things on the desktop directly ($.99 application)


Presentation by: Stewart McDonald, Supt Kodiak; and Norm Lewton (sp?) Kodiak Board Member

  • That Used to Be Us…Friedman and XX book reference
  • Multiple platform network…evaluated system;
  • Everything happens in practice---risk, gain much; practice/process
  • Everything filtered through lens of student
  • Elementary: 2:1 ratio
  • Villages: 1:1
  • High School: 2:1 ratio of use
  • Everyone asking for ipad-students and teachers
  • No technology curr review (embedded)
  • RTI intervention pgms
    • Strength in Numbers –intervention
    • ipad programs helps with differentiation…need to find apps
    • Vicky Kelly-Apple programs and not have to pay the $.99 app fees
    • Is there a professional development plan? Daniel Pink’s work-DRIVE;
      • AMP 21 groups created….autonomous PD; what do we need to work on mastery wise and what is our purpose? Collaboration is key to success in PD
      • ?how much needed to grow the IT dept to handle this need/cost?
      • PD and infrastructure must be done together
        • Early release day each week
        • Target inservices
        • Embedded PD, Instructional Technologists work in schools
        • 5,900 network devices in Kodiak;
          • 3,800 in Juneau School District
          • 60% Juneau inventory more than 3 years old
      • 3 IT technicians; help desk person and filters; Vicky Kelly-manages e rate and find the $ and keep vendors connected and network outside; helps IT find help outside district
      • Just in time training-$$ if IT can’t do it go outside for help
      • Whole system of district people responsible for “student achievement” (not IT or OIS or other dept…)
      • Infrastructure is everything to PD
      • Eliminating computer labs and saturating with ipads
      • Librarians-destiny software, e books, Lexile all books
      • Expect an e book explosion-libraries need to match up to reading books in classrooms –connect
      • Teachers create own e-books on Author on Apple
      • It is a disruptive innovation
      • Margaret Wheatley book…change
      • Tension eats away mission…

Waiting for $350,000 potential appropriation from legislation for technology



Technology Committee Meeting, 1/21/2012, 9-12:30 pm, Marie Drake
Kathy Brown, Carolyn Dukes, Tom Milliron, Richard Steele, Janna Lelchuk, Lynette NcNutt, John Wahl, Carin Smolin, Britta Steinberger, Laury Scandling

Digital Citizenship: across the curriculum

Atlas = web based curriculum, resources

Technology literacy training/inservice

CIPA law: students must be educated about appropriate use online tech…digital citizenship…e rate can be used

Thoughts from group:

  • high interest, low knowledge, don’t want to quit due to frustration
  • promote collaboration among students and staff
  • immediate support needed by teachers (must have support for ed software, for ex, reading assistant and fast forward)
  • start piloting I texts
  • link to established curriculum, don’t recreate technology curriculum
  • educators need to learn how to implement/troubleshoot technology
  • how do we manage hardware purchases system that too will be obsolete
  • can increased technology save on staff?
  • Can we have a hothouse for innovation (test site)
  • Need leadership at the top, a cheerleader to promote solutions
  • Teacher and family purchase of technology that’s mobile-shared costs, paid for students who need it
  • Need training on software, 80-20 = free OETC
  • PD must be repeated and ongoing
  • Use early release for pd and short technology trainings or mentorings/colllaborations
  • Vision should be student centered
  • Stuff needs to work!
  • Invest in the teachers who want to move forward
  • Modify our system to accommodate personally owned technology
  • Connect “technology” to career and technical education
  • IT needs to understand classroom needs not just the specs
  • Resolve bandwith
  • Align teacher understanding of student perspective of tech
  • Communication between educators and tech (read and write software)
  • Need systems protocols for implementation of software and programs
  • Need central help line to vet and organization implementation…to translate IT issues and vocabulary and prioritize urgency of fixes
  • Access to updates without special processes; user proficiency needs to be upgraded

Kathy Brown: high interest, low knowledge, don’t’ want to quit due to frustration; promote more collaboration among teachers around tech and share knowledge and also representative of teachers at low level of knowledge and high interest and shared frustrations with technology; too isolated as teachers to move forward without collaboration (in classrooms and with teachers etc.); collaboration = problem solving

Carolyn Dukes: teach elementary; feel removed from some of this; some kids really know how to use technology; need support of software purchases; lost instructional abilities at Riverbend that were free and very frustrating; RB is fast forward user and national recognized, given reading assistant-now need to pay for extra system-lost tech in building and lab was not set up in beginning of school year until second trimester and data not in place for first trimester so national org took the free national curriculum away; e-mac’s can’t run current software; no student computers in each classroom altho there is computer lab; use reading eggs and study island software;

Tom Milliron: before we spend $ on texts, we should pilot ipad textbooks with fidelity; not create our own curriculum but consider what is out there and link to that

Lynette: limited background in tech; how do we manage hardware purchases when that too will be obsolete; advocate for collaborative time; poor technology resources for kids with frustration of not working; learn to use tools that are appropriate for kids, timely…infrastructure and internet priority needed

Richard: leadership critical for district at top-advocacy to promote solutions; can increased tech save on staff? Get out of the business of supplying technology for students except for students in need-teacher and family purchase of technology that’s mobile-shared technology costs-paid for poor

Jana Lelchuk: purchasing software too, can be very expensive; what kind of software can be used at home or by other teachers-software; 80/20 rule, 80% user of computer can be used at home too based on some publisher-more information and coordination across district; using whiteboards but not being used-no training; use early release time for Professional Development…why not some training during this time too, mini workshops for staff and not wait for next year’s inservice plan;

John: people perish for lack of vision at top; need leadership; IT is about infrastructure and how to keep it running; we need student-centered vision; invest in teachers who want to move forward; modify our system to accommodate personally owned tech that comes into the site

Carin: coordination, advocacy, collaboration, capacity, training; will offer to help advocate for this at district level; IT needs to understand classroom needs and not just “specs;” resolve bandwith;

Brita: read/write gold software is not implemented and YK is supposed to be pilot site-no one knows where it is; align teacher understanding of student understanding of perspective of teachers;

Other ideas/thoughts:
Richard-idea…need central special “help” line to vet and troubleshoot educational applications;

Carolyn…Where does Power School fall? Who do you talk about that help and fix the system? Who do you talk to about systems not working?

Need access to updates without special processes; user proficiency needs to be upgraded

Next steps: Working Groups…next March 3, 9-12 pm and one Sat in Feb?

  • Student centered: Curriculum and Assessment and Digital Citizenship -
John, Kathy, Lynette, Tom
  • What should teachers and students experience in the classroom related to technology; Do we need a curriculum or how it is embedded or explicit benchmarks for our district; review some examples ISTE etc

  • System centered: Communications and Planning and Professional Development – Carin, Richard, Jana, Brita, Carolyn, Laury
    • Policies and Regulations
    • Vision
    • What are we doing well a year from today?
      • Supt needs to come to this meeting and hear what the long term commitment is for technology and a plan for how we do it, not just infrastructure;
      • Plan for doing advertising of technology and benefits to staff on ongoing basis-resource and safe place to learn and try things that are new to district
      • Opportunity to collaborate with other teachers using the technology and being mentored rather than large scale training at site inservices;
      • Always have some technology training in pd times
      • Always have consortium of students and teachers meeting regularly to talk about gaps and issues
      • Student technology trainers
      • All teachers using technology in school and in between, at least one early release time for collaboration on technology—sharing or short training –mandatory tech training every other week
      • Underutilized technology and resources in buildings due to lack of training
      • Leadership/advocacy at district level, coordinated/collaborated between systems
      • Need to know what assistive technology is available for spec ed students; do not know what is available; no troubleshooting
      • Need central catalog for ed software and resources
      • Identify/showcase what is working in the district across classrooms

To Do:

A few key steps for each of these areas in the next year



District-Wide Technology Committee, 2011-2012
Meeting #1, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011
DH Library

Attending: Phil Gouveia (IT supervisor), Sheryl Wittig (AB), Julie Leary (HBV), Tom Milliron (FD), John Wahl (FD), Diane Zemanak (DH), Ray Imel (DH), Carin Smolin (CTE), Richard Steele (JDHS)

Review of Tech Plan 2011-2014, Key Components
  • 8th grade tech literacy standards and assessment (by Nov. 15)
  • CIPA curriculum at school sites
  • Technology purchase refresh cycle
  • Site-based technology integration experts
  • Ongoing professional development
  • Innovative delivery strategies

Update on IT consolidation

Roll out google apps program
District will move to google apps this year (calendaring, docs, etc.). Have reserved the domain: Juneauschools.org Currently being piloted by those in IT. Need directions and roll-out plan to share with staff.

8th grade tech standards
Required by NCLB (Title IID) to measure 8th grade tech literacy standards; however, standards by which to measure competency had not be developed. The default is to ISTE/NETS
(International Society for Technology in Education/National Education Technology Standards for Students; and there’s a set for educators).

JSD needs to develop framework of those standards. Atomic Learning, to which we have subscription for the next year, has an assessment that can be used. (Students do NOT need to establish an Atomic Learning account to take the assessment.) This could be administered to current ninth graders and have that count toward the assessment required of 8th graders from last year.

The state has not indicated how those data will be used. JW suggests that it would be more useful for kids to develop an electronic portfolio to demonstrate how they’ve met whatever standards we identify.

RS suggests that students could be invited to do this independently and provided appropriate website. LS notes the Nov. 15 deadline for submitting results to state. Reports that she will be attending statewide tech mtg this week and will have conversations with other districts about their intent. LS will check with high schools to ensure that all 9th graders have access to laptops. RS reports that they have not been all distributed.

Consensus LS Will work* with high school admins to facilitate the assessment at 9th grade. JS, TM, RI will form team to choose 8th grade standards from ISTE/NETSS. Those standards would serve as the end point for a backward planning design of benchmarks in earlier grades.

CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act)
New federal law goes into effect this school year. Students are to have internet safety instruction. LS will ask Kimberly Homme to communicate with counselors* to develop a matrix of what is being offered at each school and to what grades. Inventory will be shared with this committee as soon as it’s complete.

Site-Based Tech mentors
Should we stipend staff to serve as tech mentors at each site? SW reminds that librarians are and should be ready to serve as instructional tech supports. RS suggests training teen mentors and trouble-shooters. JL and CW report strong need for IT PD at elementary. LS will check with Apple* about how to use the scheduled PD days to also assist elementary and to train teens* and instructional coaches*.

Tech PD
Key pieces are Apple PD, innovative tech grants, Atomic Learning subscription. You Tube is an excellent first stop. We can access such site by turning off filter; however, most such sites are blocked not due to CIPA, but to bandwidth.

Bandwith
JSD bandwidth was increased by 50 percent for this year from 20,000 to 30,000 megabits. The most we could purchase would be 100 megabits as that is the most offered by either ACS or GCI. This has become a limiting factor and may need attention of legislature. E-rate will attract about $97,000 from feds.

Followup*: Have Richard come and talk with me, Glenn, Kristin, Wayne (auditorium mgr) about maximizing video infrastructure.

Future Agenda Items
Refresh cycle